Such imagery has also invaded the pages of the Rocky, beginning with the top man. A photo of News editor/publisher/president John Temple has long accompanied his Saturday column, but twice recently, his prose has been supplemented by another image of him. On February 28, Temple was shown chatting with Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink at the Jeffco Fairgrounds, where evidence from the Columbine High School shootings had been put on public display; on May 22, he was seen sporting a huge bandage over his eye following cataract surgery. Here's hoping the photographer stays in the lobby when Temple gets a prostate exam.
Then again, Temple is a piker compared to Newshealth and fitness editor Lisa Ryckman. In the June 1 edition, she not only wrote about exercises intended to tighten abdominal muscles, but she appeared in photos demonstrating them, clad in trendy workout attire. The first page of the article pictured her in black and white, doing the bicycle move; on the jump, she was the focus of nine color snaps that walked readers through the "traditional crunch," the "crunch with heel push" and more.
Mark Andresen
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Seeing an editor at a major metro daily in such poses seems more than a bit wacky, but Ryckman is totally comfortable with the exposure. Prior to her current gig, she worked as a reporter and "always seemed to be writing about the saddest stories in the paper," she says, including Columbine and the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. Burned out by the experience, she poured herself into "my second job -- the thing that kept me sane." Specifically, Ryckman taught a variety of fitness and natural-childbirth classes, and she continues to do so in her free time. She's certified by the American Council on Exercise as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, by the YMCA as a martial arts instructor, and by Body Training Systems as "a Body Pump instructor." (This last term refers to group weight training, not a Hans and Franz routine.)
Knowing of Ryckman's interests, Temple designed the health and fitness position with her in mind, and urged her to take a how-to approach to writing about exercise. For Ryckman, posing for photos was the next logical step: "I devise a workout every month, and you need to make sure people are doing the exercises correctly. So it just made sense for me to do it." Thus far, she doesn't think she's been recognized on the street as the Rocky's exercise guru, but she's received plenty of positive feedback from readers. "Seeing a familiar face makes them feel connected to the paper in a very real way," she notes. "I think that's one of the best things I can do for our readers, and I think it's one of the things the Rocky does best."
Get the picture?
